Farage: Blair Should be Silent on Iraq, Intervention Not an Option

15 Jun 2014

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has today spoken out against former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s comments on the present situation in Iraq and Syria.

In recent days the former Labour Party leader has claimed that a failure to intervene in Syria has led to the latest strife in Iraq, rather than the 2003 invasion being responsible. Blair has written: “It is a bizarre reading of the cauldron that is the Middle East today, to claim that but for the removal of Saddam, we would not have a crisis.

“By all means argue about the wisdom of earlier decisions… But it is the decisions now that will matter. The choices are all pretty ugly, it is true.

“…for three years we have watched Syria descend into the abyss and as it is going down, it is slowly but surely wrapping its cords around us, pulling us down with it… We have to put aside the differences of the past and act now to save the future.

But Farage today has hit back against the notion of intervention, stating: “In almost every country in which the West has intervened or even implied support for regime change, the situation has been made worse and not better.

“This is true of Libya, Syria and of course Iraq. Tony Blair’s state of outright denial of the obvious consequences of his disastrous decision-making on Iraq is making increasingly uncomfortable viewing.

“There was no place in Iraq for Al Qaeda or its affiliates under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Yet now the country is over-run by Islamists who are also making advances in Syria and the whole region is sliding towards a full-scale Sunni versus Shia conflict.

“The lesson is not, as Mr Blair implies, that the West should intervene in Syria, let alone once more in Iraq. The lesson is that the West should declare an end to the era of military intervention abroad.

Farage’s comments come on the back of former Tory Defence Secretary Liam Fox claiming that a re-invasion of the country should not be off the table.

Recently, the United States moved more naval firepower into position in case President Barack Obama felt that action needed to be taken.

Farage said: “Mr Blair has long since become an embarrassment on the international stage and his remaining political friends would be well advised to urge an extended period of silence on his behalf.”